Chapter 5

"We've decided to adopt Julia as our daughter," Dad announced as he looked around the table.

The room fell silent instantly. I could see our relatives exchanging bewildered glances with each other.

Mom then said, "Julia is a very thoughtful child. She's always by our side, serving us and taking care of all our needs, doing the laundry, the cooking, and the cleaning—she's more attentive than our own daughter."

At that, my relatives instinctively turned to look at me. I gripped my knife and fork, remaining silent.

Dad just shot me a sideways glance, his tone turning serious. "Julia is unlike some people, who are nowhere to be seen all year round, only coming home to talk about money without caring about us at all.

"We asked her to quit her job and come back to take care of us, but she refused. We asked her to go on a blind date and settle down, and she refused that as well.

"She's all grown-up now, after all. She doesn't care the least bit about us old folks anymore."

Seeing this, Sonya immediately tried to smooth things over.

"But Uncle Randy, Aunt Marie, it's not that Genevieve is being unfilial or disrespectful to you. She's just really busy with work and under a lot of pressure. Please don't say such things about her."

Mom waved her hand dismissively, her face darkening. "Busy? She's always busy, isn't she? What's the point of earning more money anyway if she can't be there for us?

"But Julia is different. She's very caring, and she's always there for us when we're sick. She's far more reliable than our own daughter."

Dad became even more agitated, his voice rising as he spoke. "Since we can't rely on our own daughter, then we'll just find someone else more caring to take her place!

"If Julia can take care of us in our old age and see us off in our final days, I don't see why we shouldn't leave the house and assets to her!"

Everyone in the room was completely stunned. They stared at each other in shock, not daring to breathe even too loudly.

Some of them wanted to advise them against it, but they decided not to after seeing how resolute my parents seemed about it.

Dinner ended in a very awkward atmosphere.

Afterward, Sonya pulled me aside, her face full of concern.

"Genevieve! Did that Julia put a spell on your parents or something? How could they say that they'd leave the house to her!

"You should go back and talk to them properly. We can't let them continue making a huge mistake like this!"

I looked at Julia, who was chatting and laughing happily with my parents in the distance, and gently shook my head.

"Maybe all they want is just a sweet, obedient daughter who can always be by their side every single day. I can't be that person. And if they want someone else to be that for them, then there's no way I can stop them either."

The long weekend was coming to an end, and I needed to return to Berrington.

I called Dad before leaving, but he didn't pick up. I called Mom next, but my calls ended up being rejected.

I called them several more times, but I kept getting rejected each time.

I stared at my phone and decided to give up. I just dragged my suitcase with me to the train station and caught the train back to Berrington.

…

Over the next couple of weeks, I kept seeing my parents post updates about their daily lives.

There were photos of them going out to barbecue restaurants and posing intimately together and walking in the park with Julia's arms linked with Mom's as they smiled sweetly at each other.

Their captions were always about how warm and lovely their new life was as a "family" of three.

I scrolled through their posts, neither liking nor commenting on them. I just pretended not to have seen anything.

However, a few days later, a phone call suddenly came in. It was from Mom.

I'd only just answered the phone when I heard her disgruntled voice on the line at once.

"Why haven't you wired us the money for this month's living expenses, Genevieve Peterson? And why haven't you paid Julia her wages yet?"